FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT SCHERING PLOUGH - PAGE 5

Pfizer Inc. on Monday won Federal Trade Commission approval for its $58 billion purchase of Pharmacia Corp., clearing the final regulatory obstacle to completing the takeover this week. The acquisition will give Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical firm, all the revenue for Celebrex and Bextra, top-selling painkillers that are now jointly marketed by the two companies. Pfizer expects the combined company to post 10 percent annual revenue growth during the next three years and generate savings of $2.5 billion by 2005, it said when the acquisition was announced in July.

Congregation Beth Hillel in Wilmette was the setting for the wedding of Lauren Beth Chaikin and Michael Marcus. Rabbi Joel Lehrfield officiated at the Aug. 5 ceremony. The bride is a University of Illinois graduate and earned a master's degree from Boston University. She is a speech pathologist for the South Metropolitan Association. Her parents are Alfred and Elayne Chaikin of E. Brunswick, N.J. Her father is director of regulatory affairs for Schering Plough Corp., Kennilworth, N.J. Her mother is a conference coordinator for Hanover Insurance Co., Piscataway, N.J. The bridegroom is a graduate of the University of Illinois and Loyola School of Dentistry.

George J. Mongon, 90, formerly of Arlington Heights, IL, died on Dec. 26 in Boca Raton, FL where he is interned. He is survived by his wife Ann; and their children, Kathleen Murdoch (Rick), MarianneLadenburger (Greg), George Mongon(Marcy), and Christie Sylvester (Phil); along with 11 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. He was preceeded in death by his son Peter and daughter Deborah, along with his parents and John, his brother. George was born and raised in Bayonne, NJ, and attended St. Peter's Prepatory School and Seton Hall.

Larry and Mary Alice Niemann of Arlington Heights have announced the engagement of their daughter Tracy Marie to David William Kaddatz, son of William and Marilyn Kaddatz of Glenview. The future bride received a bachelor's degree in communications from Loyola University. She is a sales representative for Schering-Plough. The future groom received a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Toledo. He is a sales manager for Harrison Manor in Lake Bluff.

* Merck to file vorapaxar with regulators in 2013 * Approval of MK-524A (tredaptive) to be filed in 2013 * Anacetrapib studies on track to be completed in 2017 Aug 26 (Reuters) - Merck & Co said on Sunday it plans to file regulatory applications for a new type of blood clot preventer next year, and will also file with regulators for approval of another cardiovascular drug in 2013. The pharmaceutical company said in a statement that it is in discussions with regulatory agencies over vorapaxar, a drug that has been dogged by bleeding concerns since January 2011, when a safety committee overseeing a large study said the new type of anti-platelet drug was not appropriate for patients who had suffered a stroke.

Advocates for women's health cheered last year when drugs that cure vaginal yeast infections first were sold without prescription, following approval by the Food and Drug Administration. It was a victory, they said, for cheaper, simpler health care, a way for women to get relief on their own for a very common, itchy and sometimes painful condition. It has turned out to be a little more complicated than that. True, women now have a cure available, often 24 hours a day, quicker and easier than before.

Since its debut a decade ago, Claritin revolutionized the way Americans treat allergies. The little white pills became one of the best-selling drugs of all time, thanks in part to pioneering television commercials that promoted the prescription medicine much like toothpaste or laundry detergent. Now Claritin is embarking on a second career as an over-the-counter medicine, one the nation's 40 million to 50 million allergy sufferers can buy without visiting their doctor for a prescription.

One of the nation's largest health insurers won a preliminary round Friday in its campaign to allow the popular allergy drugs Claritin, Allegra and Zyrtec to be sold without a prescription. Despite some reservations, a panel of medical experts recommended the change to the Food and Drug Administration, which will have to make a final determination on a question with huge financial implications for insurers and drug manufacturers. The agency usually follows the recommendations of its advisory panels.

* Some analysts raise drug forecast almost three-fold * Deemed potential safer alternative to standard treatments * Merck shares rise 4.2 percent By Ransdell Pierson July 12 (Reuters) - Industry analysts on Thursday predicted annual sales of up to $3 billion for a Merck osteoporosis drug shown to be effective before its clinical trial was completed, and said the development could provide a needed jolt of faith in Merck's overall drugs pipeline. Merck, the second-biggest U.S. drugmaker, on Wednesday said outside monitors recommended that its late-stage study of odanacatib, a new type of treatment, be stopped early because data has already shown it reduces fractures.